Bells and Whistles
by ThiessenClocks
Summary: Fluffy oneshots from Ellster's and my timeline. Mainly Skye and Benji. Chapters are standalones. Rated T for fluffy things.
1. You and Me

_Author's Note: I don't have a new story as such, but until then let's try something a bit different: This will be a collection of some leftover one-shots (mainly fluff), because I don't know about you, but I could use a bit of fluff at the moment, and so I thought I'd try to spread some positivity. The majority of them will feature Skye, my OC; her best introduction is in my story Dunn and Dusted. In order not to spam, I'll put them all under one story, but each chapter will be a stand-alone short from Ellster's and my timeline. I'll put respective spoiler warnings and placements in the timeline ahead of each one. Hope you enjoy! _

_Cheers x_

* * *

_This first one takes place the summer after Dunn and Dusted. No spoilers._

* * *

**You and Me**

"Why me?" Benji asks into the darkness.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... look at you, you could have anyone."

"But I don't want anyone. I want you."

"Why?"

He hears the rustle of bedsheets when Skye moves in order to look at him. She's making sure he's serious about this, not just messing.

"Because you always manage to make me smile," she eventually answers. "No matter what. You make me feel safe, you're always there. And you got that cute spot in your right eye." She pauses for a second. "Because you make me want to know everything about you, and tell you everything about me. You make me want to spill my secrets." Skye chuckles. "So I figured I'd better keep you close by."

Benji is a bit – maybe not all the way to overwhelmed, but he's touched. That sounded pretty. He doesn't know what to say, so he wraps his arms back around her and pulls her close, regardless of the summer-heat in Skye's bedroom.

"And you're good at holding people," she adds, and snuggles up into the embrace. "And you smell good."

Benji chuckles at the way she's now counting down. She feels small and warm in his arms.

"Also, you're a really good kisser. And you're English, I mean, show me the girl that doesn't want the accent."

He laughs into her hair.

"And you're comfortable," she sighs, and nudges him softly.

Benji kisses her shoulder. "I love you," he whispers, because it feels pretty appropriate right now.

"I know..." She sounds half asleep already. "I'm lucky."

I'm the lucky one, he thinks to himself, but doesn't say it so that she can fall asleep. Just when his eyes fall shut as well, she mumbles, "I love you, too," and a smile steals on his face.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I want to know as well," Skye says out of nowhere.

"Know what?" Benji asks while he makes tea.

"What we talked about last night. Why me."

Benji smiles. She sounds like she doesn't really want to ask, but needs to know anyway. A little stubborn, but in a cute way. "Because of your pancakes, of course."

She shoves him a little, and he laughs. "I'm serious. I don't understand it sometimes. I was horrible when we first met."

"No, you weren't."

"I was a bit. Also you didn't get to taste my pancakes until after we were together."

Benji grins, then looks at her. "Because you're brave."

Skye frowns intrigued, like she didn't expect this.

"And when I'm with you, you make me feel brave too. Like I'm capable of more than I knew." He pours boiling water over the teabags, then turns to her. "First thing I fell for was your smile. Do you remember that? In Toronto, out on the roof? You smiled at me."

"I did?" Skye lets him draw her closer.

"Yes. It was..." Benji runs a hand through her hair. "I don't know. It felt so special somehow, like I was worthy of something."

Skye rolls her eyes, but keeps smiling. "The waffles are gonna burn..."

"Okay," Benji says absentmindedly, and kisses her.


	2. Rough and Tumble

_This one is set before Ellster's story The Russian Quartet. No spoilers, just foreshadowing._

* * *

**Rough and Tumble**

Skye's face looked spectacular. The left half was swollen and displayed bruises of every colour of the rainbow. Other than that the woman looked quite pale. Her lower lip was split, but already healing. A scratch, patched with two steri-strips, crossed her right temple towards her forehead. Her eyes were closed. She was asleep.

Benji swallowed at the sight.

"Two broken ribs, sprained wrist, several bruises, light concussion," Dr. Lee recited. "But it all looks worse than it is, Agent Dunn. She was lucid enough to drive all the way back here, and she slept through the night. She's gonna be fine."

"Okay," Benji said, a little flustered. "Can I..."

"You can stay," Lee nodded. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you woke her up. Just, you know, take it easy. She's still on painkillers. Call me if you need anything."

Benji sat down next to Skye's bed when Lee had left the room. Part of him wanted to let her sleep, get the rest she needed, but he had been so worried over the past days. He wanted to see her eyes, hear her voice. He wanted to hold her tight and smell her hair, but especially that last part would have to wait, considering broken ribs and all that.

He stroked her hair, keeping his touch as light as possible. Despite his best efforts, Skye opened her eyes after a while. She blinked several times, trying to wake up from the haze of medication.

"Hey, love," Benji said softly.

"Mmh..." she answered and turned her head to look at him. Her left eye wouldn't open all the way due to the swelling, but when she recognised him a huge smile appeared on her face. "Hey, handsome," she murmured.

"Welcome home," he said.

Skye chuckled. "Your eyes look like blueberries."

Benji had to smile. "And you're still high on painkillers."

"Where's my Mars bar?" she teased and tried to poke his arm, but then retracted her hand when it hurt. She glanced at it and saw the splint.

"Careful there," Benji said.

Skye tentatively felt her face. "I look horrible, don't I?"

"It's sexy," Benji assured her smiling. He touched her arm, feeling the need for skin contact. "What happened?"

"Mh... I fell," Skye said dismissively.

Benji raised his eyebrows into a frown.

Skye gave in with a sigh, which immediately caused her to wince when something stung in her ribcage. "There was this... guy who threw me over a bannister and I couldn't hold on. Hence the..." She raised her right wrist with the splint, but grinned. "I did it though. And then I stole a Porsche."

Benji carefully reached to stroke her cheek. His touch was soft and careful.

"Don't do that..."

"Sorry," Benji said immediately and stopped. "Did I hurt you?"

Skye caught his wrist with her uninjured hand. "Not that. That feels nice. I meant stop worrying. I'm fine."

Benji nodded, but looked down.

"We said we wouldn't worry. You promised." Skye held his hand more firmly. She waited a couple of seconds before asking, "Still nothing from Ethan?"

"No," Benji admitted. He looked at her. "I know I promised, and I'm trying. I'm just not very good at it at the moment. When I heard you didn't make the rendezvous last week..."

"Hey." Skye squeezed his hand.

"Not you, too, you know?" Benji said quietly.

"Hey," she said again and smiled at him. "Takes more than that."

"I know."

"Good. And Ethan's gonna show up again as well, you'll see."

Benji finally smiled. "Do you think I can hug you somehow?"

Skye laughed, and ignored the faint pain. "Come here." She placed Benji's arm low over her stomach so that it didn't hurt, and felt him lie down next to her. She could feel that he was tense, probably because he didn't want to put to much pressure on her injuries. Skye turned her head so that their faces were touching.

Benji moved back. "It doesn't hurt?" he made sure.

"This side is fine," she whispered reassuringly.

Benji breathed a kiss on the corner of her mouth. "It's good to have you back, feather."

"I still want a Mars bar," Skye murmured after a while.

Benji smiled. "Should I get you one?"

"Yes," she said, but held on to his arm. "In a minute..."


	3. Records and Labels

_Some time after Dunn and Dusted, timing is not really important. No spoilers._

* * *

**Records and Labels**

"What have you got there?" Skye asked when she noticed the bag Benji was carrying. She had kissed his cheek and was just closing the door behind him.

Benji slipped off his shoes and smiled. "A present."

"What for?" Skye asked surprised.

"For you."

She looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and disbelief, but at the same time she was smiling in this way that made Benji feel so incredibly rich. Like he had done something much more important than bringing an unannounced gift. It made him uncharacteristically speechless, so he just held out the paper bag to her. She took it along with his hand and led him to the sofa where they sat down.

"A record?" Skye mused once she had retrieved the flat square object, wrapped in blue paper.

Benji smiled but got suddenly nervous that she would hate it. "Maybe."

She carefully opened it and looked at the sleeve once she had put the paper on the floor.

He swallowed. "You said you had never really listened to classical music, so I thought – I saw it by chance and... I don't know, I had to think of what you said about how much you like your records... and this one has a lot of good pieces."

"That's so sweet of you." She looked at him. "But I already have this one."

For a second he believed her, then they both started laughing.

"Should we put it on?"

"If you want to," Benji said uncertainly, but she was already at her turntable. He stood up to join her, watched how she handled the record with just as much care as her prized AC/DC albums. Somehow that was really touching. Skye let it spin on the player, gently ridding it of dust with the special brush she kept next to it.

"Any requests?" she asked.

"May I?" Benji had consulted the sleeve again for the track listing. When she nodded, he carefully placed the needle and waited for the song to begin.

Skye's sound system hadn't been updated in fifteen years, and the turntable itself was a relict from the 80s, but it was excellent nevertheless. The soft piano sounded through the living room. Somehow melancholic and hopeful at the same time. Slowly at first, then gradually gathering speed, only to ultimately return to its slow rhythm.

"What is it called?" Skye whispered, leaning against Benji.

He wrapped his arms around her. "_Clair de Lune_," he answered quietly.

And then they just listened. Benji closed his eyes, enjoying the piano and her warmth. He knew she would probably not be into it, Debussy being so far from her usual choice of music, but the fact that she listened to it with him right now already made him way too happy.

When the music stopped Skye gently reached to pause the record, not wanting the next track to start right away. "I've never heard that before," she said in a hushed tone.

"Really?" Benji couldn't quite believe that.

Only then did she turn around to him. "That was very beautiful."

She had tears in her eyes. Actual tears. Benji couldn't believe that his music could have touched her so much. "You liked it?"

She swallowed, nodded emphatically and wiped her eyes before the tears could spill over. "Are they all like this?"

Benji beamed. He wanted to explain the many differences in classical music to her, down to the finest nuances between individual sonatas of his favourite composers, but first he had to kiss her. She melted into him like she needed his safety after the emotions _Clair de Lune _had brought up in her.

Skye gently stroked his stubbly cheek. "Can we listen to it again?"

* * *

_Author's Note: I almost want to apologise for the high levels of cheesiness? I like writing a good fight scene way more, these oneshots just come out from time to time and they've collected over the years. I never really knew what to do with them. Sometimes I manage to work them into a bigger story, but these are the left-overs, if you will._


	4. High and Low

_This one starts out in early 2010, so before Ghost Protocol. No spoilers._

* * *

**High and Low**

Someone almost crashed into the door. "Agent Holt."

Skye looked up from her laptop at the young out-of-breath nurse. "What's wrong?"

"It's Agent Mathison. Lee says you might be the only one that can help."

"I'm coming," Skye said at once, and chucked her headset.

/\/\/\

"They shot him heroin," Lee started explaining the second Skye was within earshot. "He made it back here but the withdrawal is kicking in sooner than I thought."

"What happened?" Skye tried looking through the window into the other room which seemed to be empty, but the doctor, another nurse, and several security guards were blocking the view. "Where is he?"

"He attacked a nurse," Lee said in her stoic manner. "Beat up two from security once we called them in, we had to vacate the room, and now he's got a gun."

"Okay, I'm going in," Skye said at once.

"I wouldn't," said the security guard.

"That's why _I'm _going," Skye said calmly.

"Suit yourself," he answered and offered the agent his gun.

"I won't need that." She turned to the doctor. "Don't come in before I got him. I'll come get you."

Lee nodded, but the man from the security detail didn't seem convinced. "At least take a tranq gun, lady., the man's lost it."

"There's already one weapon in that room, we don't want to add to the problem, do we?" Skye's look spoke volumes. "He's not gonna hurt me."

/\/\/\

"Hey, Conster," Skye said quietly, and eased the door shut behind her. Searching the room with her eyes she remained at the door for a few seconds, then she spotted him sitting in a corner on the floor, taking cover next to the bed. Slowly, she moved closer. "It's me. Skye. Skye T?"

"Don't come here," he said without really looking at her, but the gun suddenly pointed her way.

From the corner of her eyes Skye sensed some motion on the other side of the window, but shut everything out that wasn't Connor. "Okay." She slowly raised her hands. "I'm not armed, if you're wondering."

He was fidgeting, dead-white in the face, and sweating.

"So you don't need a gun. Right?"

Still avoiding her eyes, he nodded.

Skye smiled. "Cool. I'll come over, all right?"

He did not acknowledge that in any way, so Skye slowly eased closer and crouched down next to him. She reached for the weapon, but he flinched away from her. The safety was off, she noticed.

"I'll make you an offer. You give me the gun, but you get to keep the ammo. Then neither of us can do anything stupid on their own. That's only fair."

He hesitated for a long while, then nodded. With a shaking hand he held the gun within reach for Skye. Gently, she took it away from him, snapped the safety back on, then took out the magazine and gave it to Connor. Horrified, he shook his head.

"No?" Skye made sure. When he kept shaking his head, she put the magazine in her pocket and the gun on the bed, out of sight.

Without warning Connor threw himself forward and hugged Skye around her neck. She caught him despite the unexpectedness and held him tight when he made himself heavy. "It's all right," she told him soothingly. "Let me get Dr Lee."

"Tell them to stay away," he whispered.

"Okay," she said.

"It was lemon juice," he rambled on.

"What?"

"It burned, Skye T. I hate all of this, I hate what's happening."

"Shhh," she said and started to rub his back slowly when the shaking got worse. "I got you."

"They hurt me."

"No one's gonna hurt you now. I'll protect you." She tried to get a look at his eyes. "Are you in pain?"

He nodded, which was complicated because he didn't want to let go.

Skye eased some distance between them. "Where does it hurt?"

He made a general motion to his head, then somewhat desperately another one that enclosed everything.

"It's okay, come here." Skye pulled him closer again, which he gratefully accepted. Someone to hold on to was worth the world right now. "I can make it go away," Skye said quietly. "I just need to get the doc. Is that okay?"

"Don't go."

"I just need to open the door, and then I'll stay right here, I promise. Five seconds."

He nodded slightly and Skye got up. She let Lee inside and handed the gun over to the security guard, just to have it out of the room. The second she was back Connor nestled against her again like a cat. Skye sat down next to him and lay an arm around his shoulders.

"We need to take some blood to see what exactly they gave you," Lee explained, kneeling next to them.

"Just do it, doc," Skye said quietly. Connor wasn't listening anyway, he had buried his face on Skye's shoulder, sobbing dryly with his eyes wide open.

Lee nodded, and together with Skye she held Connor's arm in place while she took the blood sample.

"He said something about lemon juice? I don't know if that's important."

"They probably mixed the heroin with that," Lee agreed. "You need some form of acid if you shoot it up, lemon juice is pretty common." The doctor injected something into Connor's arm.

Skye thought it must hurt, tense as he was, but he didn't react in any way.

"That's hopefully gonna help him sleep. Or at least calm down a bit. I'm afraid there's not much else we can do at the moment. Can you help me move him?"

Connor seemed to have shut down, so Skye agreed.

On the count of three the two women heaved him onto the bed.

Skye brushed his hair away from his forehead, which was stuck there in cold sweat. Then she moved to take off his shoes. Lee brought a blanket and put it over him. His eyes wanted to fall shut, but he kept forcing them wide open.

Skye sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You can sleep, Connor. I'll be here, looking out for you."

Connor glanced sidewise at her, then his brown eyes fell shut again. "Don't go," he murmured again.

"I won't, don't worry."

The agent saw Dr Lee eyeing the restraints.

"No," she said, quiet but decided. "He doesn't need those."

"He could have more spasms. You weren't here earlier, you didn't see..."

"I'll stay here. I can handle him if something happens."

Their eyes met, and the doctor nodded. "Okay."

"Will he be okay?"

"To be honest with you, I can't say yet. I don't know how much they gave him and if it was clean stuff. Either way it's gonna take time. Everyone reacts differently. We need to see how he's holding up." Lee hesitated before adding, "He's lucky to have someone like you, Agent Holt."

"He would have done the same."

"In that case you're both lucky. I'll be right back, I just want these people out of my infirmary." She nodded at the security guards that were still teeming outside the room.

"Let me know if you need help." Skye had to smile because she knew the doctor could very well handle them by herself.

"Is she gone?" Connor murmured the second the door closed.

"You sneaky bastard," Skye chided smiling. "I thought you were asleep."

"I'm a spy," he whispered.

"And a bloody good one." She kept her hand firmly on his shoulder so that he knew she was there.

"It still hurts."

"You have to be strong. Lee said it's gonna take time."

"Fuck that."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I think I'm dying," he sobbed quietly,and rolled onto his side in order to curl up. "I feel sick."

Skye started ruffling his hair. "But you're not going to die." When he didn't answer she continued. "You can't leave me alone here. I still need you."

Connor forced his eyes open to look at her. "I'm trying."

"Talk to me. Tell me what happened."

"They had lemon juice. It burned like hell." Connor felt sick but cared for at the same time because she was just listening. "Then I felt great. I think I punched someone."

Despite everything Skye had to laugh. "That's what they get if they give you drugs."

"They had me tied up but it was like it wasn't there any more. It was like I could explode. Like I had superpowers. And then I was here and it hurt and they wanted to shoot me."

"They didn't want to shoot you," Skye said soothingly.

"Yes, they did. And then you send them away. And now I'm dying."

"Stop saying that. I know this feels like hell right now, but you don't have to go through it alone."

"I don't..." Connor broke off, his face suddenly a mask of agony. He flinched horribly, and Skye tried to hold him steady when Lee came back.

Next thing Skye knew she was shoved out of the room.

/\/\/\

"I didn't know they had tapes of that," Skye murmured.

Benji put a hand on her shoulder.

Skye restarted the video but turned the sound down this time. Benji sat quietly next to her, half worried by how she was glued to the screen, half impressed by what they were seeing there. It was the first time that he saw her and Connor interacting. It felt strange, but also brought him a bit closer to her. He hoped.

The security footage ended a second time.

"What happened next?" Benji wanted to know.

"They sedated him," she said quietly, not taking her eyes off the laptop. "Properly, I mean. Lee said he could hurt himself, so I let them. And then we waited. It took a while before he really was himself again, but... well. That was six months before Samara."

Benji edged closer, and Skye leaned against him. He put his arms around her.

"I miss him."

"I know, love."

Skye sniffed once, then kissed Benji's neck softly before settling against his shoulder. "Do you think they'll notice if I steal this?"

He kissed her forehead. "I can make you a copy."


	5. Safe and Sound

_This one takes place right after Ellster's story "12 Dunns of Christmas". There are some spoilers for that one. _

* * *

**Safe and Sound**

The hotel room is small, but clean and nicely furnished. Anyway, they were lucky to get rooms in central London this close to Christmas. But Brandt sorted that, he can pull strings if needed. Skye is grateful for her team, more than she can articulate. She goes over to the window and draws the curtains shut.

Benji sits down on the bed and sighs deeply. Skye has to smile; it's exactly how she feels. He smiles back, tired but genuine, and she heads to the bathroom to let cold water run over her wrists. In the mirror over the sink she sees Benji standing in the door.

"I can't wait to shower," Skye says and turns off the water.

Benji moves closer and rests his hands on her hips. She can feel his warmth through her shirt, and places her now cold hand on the back of his neck. He closes his eyes and lets his head drop until their foreheads touch. Skye strokes his hair.

"Can I come?" he asks.

/\/\/\

They lie on the bed, huddled in hotel dressing gowns. Skye's hair is contained in a white towel. They're close, holding each other, deliciously warm and drowsy. There was a small medical kit in their room, so they could at least clean their cuts and patch the worst of them. Benji runs his fingertips along Skye's neck, just at the edge of the small bruise that begins to form there.

"Are you freaked out by me now?" he asks suddenly.

Skye chuckles. "No," she reassures him. "Are you?"

"Not more than usual." He's happy when she laughs softly. Then he points at the bruise on her neck. "What happened?"

She sighs and pauses, stalling in silence. She hoped this could wait till tomorrow. "Not long after you had gone out a man came into the flat." She sighs in frustration. "He was wearing a mask. I thought it was you."

Benji nods and moves to look at her, sliding lower on the pillow. The cut on his neck stings.

"By the time I noticed it was already too late. Don't get me wrong, I put up a good fight."

He grins. "I can imagine."

Skye frowns in sympathy. "I'm sorry about that."

"Never mind. Reminded me of when we first met." She shoves him when he smirks. "It was very romantic." The shove grows in intensity, but she smiles. "Ow," Benji complains.

"Does it hurt?"

"I've had worse."

"But does it hurt?" she persists. "Should we get you something? More painkillers?"

"Where would you get painkillers now?"

"I'll chat up a junkie and get you morphine."

Benji laughs.

"I would," she smiles.

"I know. But don't worry. That shower worked wonders. With some sleep I'll be good as new." Skye draws him closer again. She smells incredibly good. "So what happened next?" he asks.

"I managed to get my phone, then he shoved a syringe in my neck and I woke up in the room you found me in." She hints a shrug. "You have to fill in the gaps."

"That's a longer story." He meets her eyes, silently asking whether he should.

Skye traces his ear. "Tomorrow."

"Okay." He kisses her nose, and she moves closer, finding his mouth. Benji is flooded with affection. He pulls her closer still and just holds her, trying to make her feel safe.

"What happened to your neck?" Skye managed to wash the blood out of his shirt, which now hangs over the heater to dry.

"The guy came to the apartment and had a knife." Benji keeps his tone light, like what he just implied is not big deal. They're honest with each other, and he is going to tell her about his fall down a staircase with a knife to his throat, just not right now.

Skye rests her palm underneath the dressing gown, flat against his chest, as if to assure herself he's really there, solid and breathing. "Handsome?"

"Mh?"

"Next time we stay at a hotel."

Benji laughs, suddenly feeling immense relief that they're all right.

Skye's hand moves under the fabric, warm and confident, gentle and familiar. "With a pool and a spa." She knows her voice calms him down, keeps his emotions in check, so she keeps talking. "And a fancy breakfast buffet. And too many pillows."

Benji kisses her temple, knows that he loves her, knows that she knows. The rest won't matter until the next morning.


	6. Thunder and Lightning

_Some friendship fluff inbetween. This one takes place in Summer of 2006. No spoilers._

* * *

**Thunder and Lighting**

"Hey, Skye T?"

"Mmh?"

"Are you asleep?"

"Yes, so shut up."

"...sorry."

Sighing, Skye rolled onto her other side in order to face Connor. "What is it?"

"I just couldn't sleep. Never mind me, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Rain was crashing against the window pane. In the cavernous attic room directly under the roof it sounded like one continuous noise instead of thousands of little individual impacts. It was surprisingly loud.

Skye supported her head with her arm, trying to figure out since when Connor was so polite to her. Instead of a friendly mocking response, something compelled her to soften her voice a bit. "Don't worry, I wasn't asleep yet anyway. It's too cold."

For a second the room was illuminated by lightning, blindingly bright in its unexpectedness and gone the second it came. Still it was enough to allow Skye seeing her friend flinch. Rolling thunder followed, underlining her surprise. She had trouble recalling when she'd last seen Connor scared.

"You wanna come over?" she asked softly.

Connor turned his head trying to find her glance in the darkness, then the rustling of sheets followed when he gathered up his blanket and pillow. The floorboards creaked with the couple of steps it took him to cross the room to Skye's bed.

Wordlessly Skye scooted over to the wall, making room for him. Connor curled back up in his blanket, when lightning struck again. This time, up close, Skye could be sure that he was scared. Just as she could be sure that he would never admit that. Still not saying anything, she mashed their blankets together and put an arm around him.

He tensed. Then, hesitantly, Connor mimicked the motion, his hand coming to a stop on her shoulder.

"Am I doing this right?" Connor asked.

"What you mean?"

"Holding."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Why, is that a stupid question?"

"Kinda."

The underlying irony that usually accompanied their conversations wasn't there. Skye wondered why they always needed either darkness or imminent mortal danger for serious talks. Secretly she rolled her eyes, but had to smile as well. Connor's voice was always a notch deeper when he was serious about something.

"I don't usually... do this, you know."

"You don't hold people?" Skye carefully sorted his arm to make them more comfortable.

Connor shook his head. "Mh-mh."

"What are you doing with all those girls then?"

"Well, we don't exactly cuddle."

"That's... kind of sad, actually," Skye said without being mean.

Another bolt of lightning lit up the room for an instant, almost immediately followed by thunder. Connor's arms tightened around Skye.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Sorry," he murmured, and loosened his grip.

"You know it's all right to be scared, right?"

"I'm not scared."

"Just throwing it out there. No correlation to this situation right now," she stated.

Connor chuckled for a second. Then he continued, "I've actually never done this before, now that I think about it. Holding someone."

"Never?" Skye asked incredulously.

"No."

"Like never-never?"

"I'm serious."

Skye turned her head on his shoulder so that they were face to face. "You've never held a girl."

"Well, that time when that asshole broke up with you."

"That was a hug, that doesn't count."

"And back when you got shot."

"That was carrying, that doesn't count either. Also that was all me."

"Then no, I haven't."

Skye didn't know what to say to that.

"This is nice," Connor found. "Can I...?" He tilted his head so that their faces were touching. "Or is that weird?"

"No, that's fine. As long as you don't try anything gross."

"Come on, don't ruin the mood," he smiled. "So what now, we just stay like this? Are there any rules?"

"There are no rules to cuddling," Skye explained. "You just wanna see that both are comfortable. Other than that you just go with it."

"I see," he said. "I always thought it was something sorta sexual, you know?"

"Not necessarily," Skye replied.

Lightning flashed once again, but this time Connor didn't flinch.

"Can I ask you something?" Skye began carefully.

"Course."

"If you don't do stuff like this, does this mean you've never been held by someone either?"

Connor thought about it. "Don't think so, no. Not counting right now."

"Not even when you were a kid?"

"Can't remember." The reply came too quickly.

"What about your mum?"

Connor kept quiet for a while, and Skye knew better than to pry any further. They were still cuddled up together. By now they were warming up. The attic was above the barn that belonged to the farm they were staying on. Once the hatch was shut, it was impossible to detect from below. Ideal for witness protection. By day they helped out, but this refuge allowed them to catch a good nights sleep without having to fear to be found out in the middle of the night. Not that either of them worried about that, the farm was very remote, and other than Director Brassel and the couple who ran the place, no one knew which state they were currently in, not even the agents themselves.

"Do you think the roof is gonna hold?" Connor said very quietly.

"Yes," Skye whispered back, humouring his attempt to change subjects. "I think this house survived worse weather."

Connor sighed the deepest sigh in history. "My mum died when I was twelve. To be honest, I don't remember much about her," he said soberly.

"Oh – shit, Connor, I'm sorry. I didn't know," Skye said quietly.

"I know you didn't know. I never told you," he laughed dryly.

"I'm really sorry," she said again and held him closer.

Connor went along, shifting their position a bit. "Is this okay?"

"You don't always have to ask that." Skye smiled a bit. "Yes, that's fine."

Several flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder went by while they were silent, accompanied by never-ceasing rain.

"What about your dad?" Skye eventually dared to ask.

"My dad's an asshole."

Skye swallowed at the fierceness of her friend's voice. "Okay."

"He's why I joined the army. Didn't know where else to go."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologising."

"Okay." It didn't feel uncomfortable between them, despite what Connor had revealed. "I just feel like I should have known this."

Connor carefully took her hand and moved it, then turned on his side so that he was holding Skye in his arms. "You know, I don't think I could do this with anyone other than you. This is way more... just _more_ than anything you could... you know, _do_." He sounded slightly scientific, as if he was analysing an experiment.

Skye smiled carefully. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"I think cuddling is more of a platonic thing."

She laughed. "I think you've been missing out on something."

"It feels like a family thing," he persisted.

Again, Skye had to smile. "If you say so."

"When I was a kid... one night there was a storm and lightning struck the house across the road. There was a fire and everything, it burned down completely. The couple living there died, even though the fire trucks were there within minutes. And I could see everything from my room. I had stayed up to watch the storm. It's kind of stupid because I was maybe six at the time, but I'm still not exactly... fond of lightning. So, yeah. That's that."

The confession came so unexpected that it took Skye a bit to find a response. "So now I know all of your secrets, huh?"

"Pretty much. I think that was the last one."

"I see." She chuckled. "You think you can sleep?"

"Yeah, I guess. But if my arm falls asleep I'll bash you into the wall."

"And if you steal my blanket I'll punch your throat."

"Good night, Skye T."

"Good night, Connor."

/\/\/\/\

Skye was facing the wall when she heard the floorboards creak. Then her mattress swayed slightly behind her when Connor lay down next to her.

"It's just thunder," she murmured. "Not even a storm."

"I thought you were asleep," he said quietly, sounding guilty. He moved as if he was about to get up again.

Skye sighed. "Well, now you're already here."

Connor smiled behind her back, and curled back up. He tried to focus on Skye's regular breathing, but something about the continuous thunder, which had been going on for over an hour now, stirred a deep-set corner of his subconscious, and he didn't like it. Sometimes it sounded like bombs going off in the distance.

He rolled onto his side, and put his arm around Skye's slim figure. Tentatively, he placed his hand in front of her face, so that he could feel her breath on his fingers.

"What is that?" she spoke up.

It made Connor flinch because he had been sure she was already asleep. He made to move away but Skye made him stay.

"Relax. It's fine."

Thunder was rolling along above them.

Connor swallowed. "What d'you mean?"

"That," she said, and tapped his hand with her finger. "Your hand there. You did that too when I got shot."

"You remember that?"

"It's all fuzzy," she admitted. "But I'm right, aren't I?"

"I guess." Connor's voice had died down to a whisper.

Skye waited. Her eyes almost fell shut again when he took his time, but she didn't want to pressure him into answering.

"Don't be creeped out, okay?" he eventually said. "I know it's weird."

"All right."

"My... my mum, she was sick. She knew. That she would die, I mean."

Connor paused. Skye took his hand, but didn't turn around. She felt that might make it more difficult.

"So I was twelve, right? She... explained to me that it would be like going to sleep." He swallowed. "So I asked her how I would know that she had died and wasn't just asleep."

Skye could not be entirely sure, but she thought he might be crying. She decided not to acknowledge it because Connor could be very macho about these things. She just waited for him to go on.

Connor sniffed. "She said that, if I wanted to, I could feel her breath. And that's what I did. What I'm doing."

"She just told you that?" Skye asked quietly, hoping that it wasn't disrespectful. "I mean, you were a child."

His voice regained a certain firmness. "I think she knew that it wasn't time yet. It wasn't like one day I would reach up and she'd just have stopped breathing. It took weeks, and in the end they kept me out of there. That was one shit summer, I can tell you."

Skye's first impulse was to apologise again, but she swallowed it down. Instead she held his hand a bit tighter.

"Do you think I'm a freak now?"

"No." She turned around now and looked at him. "Why would I think that?"

"Because it's kinda fucked up, if you think about it."

"I don't think you're a freak. You just miss your mum. That's the most natural thing in the world."

Thunder rumbled.

He looked away. "I've never told that to anyone," he whispered.

"I won't tell anyone."

Connor knew he could trust her. With anything. No matter what. "Sometimes you remind me of her." He'd said it without wanting to. It had just slipped out. He bit his lip, because that must have sounded absolutely weird.

Instead Skye just asked, "What was her name?"

Connor looked at her again. He didn't know why he felt so insecure right now, but the fact that she took all of this seriously was so touching that, annoyingly, he felt like crying. He swallowed hard. "Hazel."

Skye smiled her small smile.

Connor swallowed again, then he forced a laugh. "Frigging therapy session in the middle of the night. I really didn't mean to keep you up."

Skye suppressed a sigh, but she got that this was hard. "Let's sleep, then?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." She rolled back on her side.

In the darkness, she found Connor's hand near her face. She nudged her nose against his fingers. Connor moved a little bit closer.

That was when it started raining.


	7. Means and Measures

_This one is set after Ellster's story _The Turncoat_. My oneshot contains ALL THE SPOILERS for it, so I highly recommend reading that first, especially since its a very good story full of suspense and agent-things._

* * *

**Means and Measures**

Usually, coming home feels wonderful. Unlocking the door to their flat, finding the other one in the kitchen, or asleep in the bedroom and quietly slipping in and drawing the blankets over them.

This time, it feels slightly alien as Benji and Skye return from HQ. They spent some time at the infirmary, and getting the first official statements out of the way, even the first meeting of how to proceed in future missions. There was something to do. Now it seems like the entire time there was a TV on at full volume and someone turned it down to silence. Not bad, just a little abrupt.

The two of them don't talk much. Skye showers while Benji improvises dinner, and Benji showers while Skye cleans the dishes. Normal things. They don't talk about the mission.

When they go to bed, Skye moves close and nudges her head in the bend where his neck merges into shoulder. Benji feels for her hand under the blanket. She starts tracing lines on his wrist. It feels so nice that he closes his eyes.

"Good night, love."

"Good night, handsome," she whispers.

She sounds like she means it, but the soft tracing continues until after he falls asleep.

/\/\/\

Then Skye isn't there. Benji wakes up, disoriented. It's still dark, but the bedroom door is open and he hears noises from the bathroom. Decidedly he gets out of bed.

Skye is throwing up in the toilet. He turns on the light and kneels next to her, places a hand on her back and takes over in holding her hair.

Skye isn't sure what he's saying, but his voice is soothing. A minute later she slumps down against the wall, exhausted. Benji hands her a glass of water. She drinks and wipes her mouth with toilet paper, all the while taking deep breaths. In through the nose, the whole thing. Her stomach hurts.

Together they sit on the tiled floor.

"Just dreams," Skye says when she realises Benji is waiting for some sort of explanation.

"That must have been some dream," he says concerned.

Somehow the fact that he worries makes it worse. "It's fine."

"It's not fine, Skye. What was it?"

She's exhausted and gets up. "Let's talk tomorrow."

"Wait." Benji gets up as well. "I don't think we should put this off."

Skye just sighs by way of an answer, walks around him and heads to the bedroom to get a sweatshirt, because she's suddenly cold.

Benji follows. "Love, you just threw up. That's not something that just happens because of some random dream."

She doesn't want to get angry, but it just happens. "It wasn't just random, you know that. But it was to be expected after that mission, so I don't see the point."

"But-"

"I'm _fine_, Benji."

"You're not fine," he says firmly. "I'll make tea."

/\/\/\

"Okay, so I'm not fine," Skye says as she joins him in the kitchen. "There. But we both know what happened and I just don't see the point in revelling in it." She brushed her teeth while he made tea, and smells minty.

"But we have an agreement," he says, and pours hot water into two stripy mugs. "We said we wouldn't pretend."

"You saw her shoot Ethan, isn't that enough? Why should I tell you about the rest as well?"

"Because I want to help you," he says firmly. "When will you understand that you don't have to deal with these things on your own?"

Skye takes a mug and sighs deeply, unsure of how to explain this without being hurtful. "I would have shot her, Benji," she says, putting all the seriousness of the consequences, had she gone through with it, into the statement. "Shit, I did shoot her. It was pure luck that I had the gun with the fake bullets."

Benji looks into her eyes. "You thought she killed your team," he says. "It's not like you had no reason."

"This isn't about having a reason." Skye puts the mug on the counter. "I keep seeing it. She tried to tell me and I pulled the trigger. I meant to kill someone from my own agency. A fellow agent. Your friend."

"But you didn't kill her." Benji steps closer. They lean against either side of the counter's corner. "You didn't kill her. She's okay. Stop blaming yourself."

Slowly, Skye starts nodding. She reaches for the mug, takes a sip but puts it down again. "She had us lined up. Brandt, Luther, and me. And they asked her to pick one of us to kill." She speaks calmly, sober. Like she's already writing the mission report in her head. "Then she shot Brandt. Like an execution. And I thought, if she can shoot the one she probably likes most out of us three, without even hesitating, then it has to be out of mercy. And the rest is only gonna be worse."

Benji imagines how it must have looked from her perspective and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Suddenly he's angry, and looks down at his mug to hide it.

"I saw you," Skye says.

Benji searches her face. It is completely devoid of emotion, enough to make him fear that she will shut down. But Skye keeps talking.

"When they had you up against the wall. We were outside." She is holding on to her elbows, like she's still cold. A somehow vulnerable gesture. Her eyes are fixed on the opposite wall. "Brandt and Luther didn't see, but I went first, and the door wasn't quite shut. And you were just hanging there and I heard them say – I heard Elaine say that you were-" She interrupts herself. It's not that she can't say it, she just doesn't want to. There is no need to, he is fine after all. Nobody died. No need for all this fuss in the middle of the night.

Only when she feels Benji breach what little distance there is between them does Skye realise she is crying. Just a few tears, slowly making their way down her face. Benji edges into the corner and puts one arm around her shoulders. She doesn't move. One miscalculated movement now and she might lose it.

"I'm not happy with what Elaine did," he says calmly. "I'm mad at her."

Skye's voice is quiet, but firm. "Don't be. It wasn't her fault."

"I hate that she made you go through this."

Skye shakes her head. This still seems like a pointless conversation. "She had no choice, Benji."

"I still want you to be okay."

"I am." Skye turns towards him, wipes the tears away. "I am okay."

When he draws her into a hug, the sobs are muffled by his jacket. They're quiet, and the kitchen feels like a sanctuary.

"The thought of losing you," Skye whispers. "And what that did to me. That's..." There is no word that describes the feeling adequately. "That's scary. And I know you think we should talk about what happened, but I'd rather not think about all this because you're okay, we both are, so there's no need to." She's not sure if she's making sense. "Because if I start thinking about that, I think about it a lot, and then I get constantly afraid of not having you here. And I don't want to be afraid when I'm with you, I just want to be – with you." She frees herself from his hug and looks up. "So I think we should pull ourselves together."

Benji looks at her. "You're not gonna lose me."

Skye reaches up to wipe his tears away. And then she suddenly kisses him, with a raw emotion of such intensity that Benji isn't sure he's ever felt the things he's feeling before. She's holding his face, then one hand slips into his hair, and his arms sneak around her waist again. It's overwhelming and beautiful, and when they break apart they're both surprised by what just happened.

Someone needs to say something, but all Skye can think of is 'I love you', which isn't the worst thing to say but then she knows she's gonna cry again. Option two is 'Let's go to bed', but that would imply going to sleep and it's too soon for that. She'll just see all these things again, and there's nothing left in her stomach to throw up to compensate for it. Maybe there is no right thing to say.

"Do you want to watch _Firefly_?" Benji asks.

A tingly wave of relief and gratefulness washes through Skye's ribcage. Benji always knows the right thing. She smiles at him. "Yes."

They fall asleep on the sofa before the episode is half over, sharing the fluffy blanket they keep in the living room, holding on to each other.


	8. Fact and Fiction

_Timing is irrelevant (after Dunn and Dusted, no one is surprised), no spoilers. Also this might be the cheesiest thing I've ever written. You have been warned._

* * *

**Fact and Fiction**

"It's strange," Skye explained. "Some days are really bad. Other days I don't think about it at all. And sometimes it's more annoying. Then I'll see something we had an in-joke about and I almost get mad because I can't tell him. Then I just miss the small things about... not even just about him, about our friendship. Like betting on hockey games, or being called Skye T. Or all our stupid games."

"What kind of games?" Benji asked.

"Like... We used to have this what-if game. We came up with it when we were in witness protection because we had a lot of time and were bored. You started with 'Do you think we would have met if'. We would think of a random scenario in which something had gone different in either of our lives, and then we came up with a way how we still would have met. Regardless of circumstances."

"So the point was that you always would have met?"

"Yes. Connor was into fate. Sometimes it just got ridiculous, like the one where he was a famous rock star."

Benji chuckled. "How did you solve that one?"

"Protection job."

"Clever."

"Sometimes it got really deep, you know?"

"I can imagine." Benji paused. "Would it be weird if I gave you one?"

"No."

"Do you think we would have met if neither of us had joined the IMF?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

Skye chuckled. "The rules are that you have to say yes after the scenario. Because, of course."

Benji smiled. "I see."

"Let's see..." Skye stretched and then leaned against Benji. He put an arm around her. "That's a tricky one, because if I hadn't been recruited in Glasgow I most likely would have returned to Copenhagen to finish studying there."

"Right. That would leave us on entirely different islands. I'd still sit in London, probably."

"But I did fall in love with the city, so let's say I go back there after graduating. Find an internship doing international correspondence for some company."

"Okay... Same island at least. Still far away."

"I'll have you come to me. How about you're commissioned by my company to do some computer stuff."

"Computer stuff," he repeated half offended, half loving, and kissed her forehead. "Wait, actually – when would this be?"

Skye made a quick calculation. "2000-ish."

"So office computers were still somewhat new. Companies had to have theirs updated all the time. Let's say I do that."

"Although I feel that's a bit below your standards."

"But it pays the bills," Benji said, getting into the game.

Skye chuckled. "All right. That puts us in the same building."

"From there on it's easy."

"It is?"

"I would see you, being all gorgeous..."

"And what, ask me out?"

"Actually I just remembered I was really shy and pathetic back then."

"I doubt that." Skye kissed him. It went on, and Benji pulled her on top of him. She folded her hands under her chin and rested her head on Benji's chest. "I have to imagine you all nineties and nerdy."

"I have to imagine you all smart and way out of my league." He looked at the ceiling. "I doubt I would have had the courage to talk to you."

Skye smiled at him. "How about this, it's your lunch break, you don't know the city, and just ask the next best person, which happens to be me, for a place to eat."

"You're good at this," he remarked, and his heart sped up when he saw her huge smile at this.

Skye tilted her head to one side and started stroking his shoulder. "So helpful as I happen to be, I say it's my break as well and you could come with me."

"You can be really cheesy at times, you know that?" he said fondly.

"Don't get ideas, just some sandwich shop."

He laughed. "Okay."

"Then we get talking, about what London's like."

"And Denmark."

"And that. And I would secretly fall for your accent." Her hand moved to his neck.

He smirked. "Wouldn't it be weird because I'm older than you? I mean you'd be around twenty-two, twenty-three..."

"And you'd be twenty-seven, so what?"

"Okay."

"So how long does updating computers take?"

"Depending on how big this company is, two days. Maybe three."

"Let's make it easy and say three. And we go out for lunch every day and, like, get to know each other."

"I like where this is going." He collected a strand of her hair from his shoulder and sorted it behind her ear. "And then it's the weekend and I stay two more days."

"You would do that?"

"I don't meet people like you every day, love."

"So we have a whole weekend... What were you up to as a twenty-something? Did you go clubbing?"

"Not really," Benji laughed. "I'd probably invite you to dinner."

"Classy. I like it."

"Although I let you choose the place." He rolled carefully on his side, catching Skye as she slid off his chest. "Since I have no idea of Glasgow."

"Something with music... some sort of bar maybe."

"Sounds good."

"So I'd show you around and we have dinner..."

"And then...?"

"I'm not that easy," she chuckled.

"I know that. But could I bring you home?"

"Maybe," she smiled. "But you can't come inside."

"Fair enough."

"That Sunday would be bad, though. When you'd go back to London."

"Yeah..." Benji was so into their scenario that he really felt a bit sad.

"We meet at the station and have coffee together, and then I bring you to your platform," she decided. "And then I ask for your phone number."

"Wow, really?"

"Obviously. Since you didn't."

"That would totally blow me away."

Skye laughed. "Which would be adorable. So I would cave and kiss you."

"You -" Benji began a question, but then Skye kissed him. It did feel like a first kiss, careful but confident, an alternate version where she made the first move. It felt nothing short of amazing. Benji inhaled deeply when she pulled away. "You can have anything you want."

Skye smiled and stroked his flushed cheek. "You're blushing."

"I like this game."

She chuckled. "Me too." Then she got serious. "Afterwards it would be hard. Then you'd be back in London. Far away." She was ruffling his hair.

Benji closed his eyes. "We would talk on the phone for ages."

"That's true. I can see that."

"Every night."

"Definitely. I'm sure once there was a long weekend I would come visit. See London, you know?"

"I pick you up at the station."

"I would be all over you the moment I see you."

"Wow."

"Come on. By then I'm hopelessly in love with you."

"You're in love with me?" He pulled her into him.

"If you haven't caught on by now you're kinda late to the party, skat," Skye chuckled, but gave in to his kiss.

"Do you think we would make it back to mine with our clothes on?"

Skye laughed out loud. "Yes, but barely."

He moved a hand underneath her shirt. They shamelessly made out for a while, until the heat of the moment became overwhelming and it couldn't happen fast enough.

Afterwards they found themselves in a tangled nest of clothes and blankets, sweaty and out of breath.

"Damn," Skye panted and combed her hair back with one hand.

"Yeah," Benji agreed, and placed a hand on her thigh.

"Something tells me we wouldn't get out much that weekend," Skye said grinning.

For a while they lay in silence, catching their breath, until he asked, "What then?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I guess we continue like that for a while. Until we get sick of it."

"And then that's it?"

Skye shrugged.

"No," Benji said decidedly. "No way I'd let you go that easily." He cupped her shoulder. "I'd move to Glasgow."

"Really?"

"Sure. I have a shitty alibi flat for a while and then we move in together."

Skye chuckled softly and snuggled up to him. "And you get a really cool job as a programmer."

"By then you're leading your entire department, too."

"And then?"

"Then..." Benji paused. "Then we meet family, and go on holiday together... and at some point I ask you to marry me, I suppose." He felt her smile against his shoulder, but didn't dare to look at her.

"I'd say yes," she said.

Now he turned to her. "Yeah?"

"Of course I would," she laughed, mock-offended.

"That's good to know," he grinned.

She squirmed under the delicious static in the air and couldn't keep a silly smile from spreading over her face. The only escape was to keep talking. "So then, the whole thing? Marriage, kids, house in the suburbs?"

"Don't forget the dog."

She laughed again, then rearranged their position, held him. "Funny how different it could be, isn't it?"

He craned his neck to meet her eyes. "To be honest? I wouldn't change one thing."

She looked at him, quizzically, as she would.

"The only advantage this life would have is that we had more time together. But do you really think we could be so... normal?"

Skye thought about it. "I don't know. I kind of doubt it, but maybe, if we didn't know better."

"The point is, I love you."

Skye needed a second to respond. He did this from time to time, just throwing it at her. She swallowed. "I..."

He kissed her, so deeply and passionately that it left Skye even more speechless then before.

"It's fine," he said and stroked her cheek. "I know."

Skye licked her lips and smiled. "Okay."


	9. Body and Soul

_Good thing I saved one of the fluffiest, I'm sure we can all use some. This one takes place just after the main events of Dunn and Dusted, but before the epilogue. Cheers._

* * *

**Body and Soul**

It was the first time that Benji woke up first. Despite his best mental efforts to get out of bed before Skye, to surprise her with breakfast or just take in the feeling that she felt safe enough to be asleep beside him, he had never managed to beat her disposition to be an early-riser.

He didn't know what had caused it, but there he was. Their bedroom was bathed in warm sunlight streaming in through the light curtains. If he concentrated enough, he could hear the waves of the Adriatic Sea. He wished this holiday would never end.

Skye lay on her back, head tilted to one side, her light hair splayed out over the pillow. Her skin was already tanned enough to contrast beautifully against the white sheets. The thin blanket was pulled up just enough to cover her breasts, but clung to her body so that Benji could make out every shape nevertheless.

He turned on his side to look at her, tried to take in every little detail. The arch of her eyebrows, her lashes which shimmered in the Italian sunlight. The curve of her neck merging into her shoulders. Her taut skin over the collarbones. Her chest rising and falling in small motions with every breath. As Benji's eyes wandered over her body, he spotted something he hadn't seen before. It was very faint, but there was a white line starting below her left collarbone and trailing towards her breast. Carefully he reached out and touched it. As lightly as possible, since he didn't want to wake her just yet.

At the touch of his fingertip, Skye stirred. When he retraced the line until it curved upwards along with her body, she jolted awake so abruptly that Benji had no time to react before she caught his wrist in an iron grip and forced him backwards.

It wasn't the pain so much as the surprise that rendered him unable to reciprocate or at least say something. Only when she blinked a couple of times, as if waking up was a delayed reaction after acting on instinct, did she seem to realise the position they were in: Benji pinned down onto the bed, shock on his face as he looked up at her.

Skye focused on breathing for a second before she finally let go off his wrist. "Sorry," she said breathlessly, confused and almost scared. She moved to the side to let him get up. "Sorry, I'm – I'm not sure what just happened."

Benji sat up and involuntarily flexed his fingers a few times to get the bloodflow going again.

"I hurt you," Skye said concerned.

"No, don't worry," he said. His eyes flickered to the scar he had touched a moment ago. Now, with her back to the window, it wasn't even visible any more.

Skye reached for the spot, covered it with her hand. Benji wasn't sure if it was a conscious gesture.

"I'm sorry," she said again, more quietly this time. "I must have been dreaming just then."

"I think that might have been my fault." He met her eyes when she frowned at him. "I touched you scar." He pointed at the same spot on his own chest, not entirely sure if she would want him to touch her now. "I thought it was a stray hair, I only just noticed it. I'm sorry I woke you like this, I didn't mean to trigger anything."

Skye rubbed her eyes, trying to get more awake. "My scar?" she then said and craned her neck to get a look.

"You really can barely see it," Benji said. He felt he had stirred something up in her, and it made him angry at himself. He couldn't mess this up, this felt too big, too important to make stupid mistakes like this. Carefully he reached out to her, giving her enough time to move away if she needed to. But Skye let herself be pulled into a hug. Despite the warmth she reached for the blanket when Benji lay back down with her against his chest. Benji noticed and pulled it back up for her, over the bullet wound on her hip. It pained him that she felt insecure about them in front of him. He combed his fingers through her hair and held her closer. She nudged her face against his shoulder.

"Skye, love," he whispered into her ear. "You're beautiful. You know that, right?"

He felt the smallest of smiles against his chest.

"Sometimes I hate them," she said quietly. "The scars, I mean. That someone got to leave a mark on me." Then she looked up at him. "You really don't think they're..." She was missing a word and stopped.

"The only thing I don't like about them is that someone hurt you," he said, carefully caressing her back. "But really they just remind me how brave and incredible you are."

Skye smiled again, almost against her will it seemed. "You're really sweet, Benji."

He smiled and kissed her, lips carefully brushing against each other. He felt her relax, finally, and his guilt slowly receded.

"Good morning," she whispered smiling as she broke away, prompting him to grin when he felt her hand trailing down his back.

"Good morning, _mia cara_."

Skye kept smiling when she looked at his face, and he couldn't help wondering if she was trying to take him in much like he had done before she'd woken up.

"It's nice not having to lie about them," she then said, unexpectedly serious. "I always had to make up stories when someone asked. Somehow that always made me feel cheap, like they were for nothing." She chuckled ironically. "Not even worth the war story, you know?"

He smiled dutifully as she settled back against his chest and reached for his hand. Carefully she traced lines on his wrist, the one she caught so hard just minutes ago. "I also like that you don't ask," she added very quietly.

Benji bent to kiss her forehead. He felt the unspoken promise. _Someday. Someday I'll tell you all of it._

"I got one, too, you know," Benji said. He felt her attention and kept talking. "On my left knee. Should I tell you?"

"If you want to," she said. She sounded so serious, looked at him with so much care.

He wanted to kiss her, but forced himself to continue. "It's a pretty rough story."

"Okay."

"I was nine years old," he began, putting all the gravitas he could muster into his tone. "And a friend of mine dared me to climb a tree. And..." He stretched the moment as long as he could. "...I fell off the first branch."

He looked at her just in time to see the corners of her mouth twitch before she burst out laughing. He grinned at her when she was unable to control her subsiding chuckles and kissed her forehead.

Eventually Skye calmed down and, still smiling, made eye contact. "Jeg elsker dig," she said, quietly but matter-of-factly, like it was a conclusion she had only just arrived at, but with absolute certainty.

It was the first time she had said it first. "I love you, too."

"You understood that?"

"Yeah, I looked that one up. Thought it might come in handy."

Skye looked at him again with a notion of utter amazement. Then she leaned forward and kissed him with such intensity that Benji felt dizzy. He pulled her closer again, planning to kiss every inch of her body, regardless of scars.

* * *

_Author's Note: If you're curious, one of the scars is explained in my story Business and Pleasure. I'm working on the bullet wound backstory. Also, fair warning, I'll run out of oneshots soon._


	10. Wait and See

_This one takes place between Parts One and Two of Dunn and Dusted, and does have spoilers for the first bit of that story._

* * *

**Wait and See**

The car door was dragged shut. The sense of déjà-vu was overwhelming. Skye glanced over to the empty driver's seat and swallowed hard. The lights in the garage seemed too bright, but if she turned them off she would be in complete darkness, and she didn't think she could take that. That would leave too many possibilities.

"Hey, Annie," she said softly. Out of a reflex she reached for the seat belt, but stopped halfway through the motion. Annie's battery sat in a corner of the garage. The Mustang wouldn't go anywhere today.

Skye took a deep breath. "Okay, look. I know you're into this whole gravestone – touchstone thing, but I hate going there. So I thought this might... work... shit, this is so stupid."

_No, it's not._

"Okay," Skye breathed, to herself. She looked at the floor. "Okay, listen. I really – really need to talk to you. And I know I haven't done that in ages. I guess I want to explain." She paused. "To be honest – I know this is gonna hurt, but at least it's the truth. I've sort of been trying to forget you." She sighed. "I know it sucks. But every time I try to talk about you it just..." Skye sniffed and wiped the first tear away. "It hurts, you know? Like, physically hurts. And I hate that feeling. And for a while it was... easier. Not easier, but bearable."

_I think I get it._

Skye reached forward and opened the glovebox, taking out a pack of tissues.

_You keep Kleenex with Annie?_

Skye took another deep breath. "I met this guy."

_Tell me everything._

"It's... I don't even know where to begin, it's all such a mess."

_What's his name?_

"I was assigned to his team on a protection job – which turned out to not be a protection job, but that's not important right now. The thing is, I..."

_Skye T._

"God, I hate this. I feel so stupid."

_Lilly._

"Thing is, the entire time I was pretty obnoxious, I think, but he just kept being nice."

_You make it sound like that's a bad thing._

"Nice isn't the right word. He's kind." A few more tears ran over Skye's face. "Like, really kind... Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm... attracted to him or something, it's just... Okay, so all of this was a few weeks ago."

_Maybe one thing at a time._

"He asked me about you." Skye waited. "And – I don't know why, but I told him about Samara."

_You did?_

"Not the whole thing, obviously. But the official bits. And, you know, every other time I tried to talk about you, not even about Samara specifically, just about you, I couldn't. Because it hurt so much." She sniffed and took a fresh tissue. "But then Benji comes along and for the first time it felt good to talk about you. Even though we started at the bad end."

_Benji, huh?_

Silent sobs were shaking Skye. Why was this so hard? "I just, don't understand. It's all such a mess."

_You're gonna figure it out. You always do._

"Did I mention that I kissed him?"

_Oooh, you left that bit out._

"It's all so stupid..."

_Come on, spill it._

"So we were back from this mission. And we wanted to get breakfast. And I thought that would be really nice, just to talk to someone. To, like, get to know him, because on the mission everything was so hectic and he got hurt, too, and we had to be at a hospital, and I had to get fucking stitches..."

_What happened?_

"Anyway," Skye sighed. "Breakfast. But then Gormley suddenly stood in front of us and made me be his co-pilot for a job. I mean, I told him I'd just gotten back from a thing, and you know what he did? He threw fucking Barcelona in my face."

_Oh, Lilly..._

"And then I kind of panicked and thought he'd unpack that story in front of everyone – well, fine, in front of Benji, and then I said I'd go with him."

_So... no breakfast._

"And I was already halfway to the elevator when I was like, shit, you can't leave it like that, that's stupid, so I went back and at least wanted to... give him a hug or something, but he broke his arm on the job, and at the last moment I realised his cast would be in the way, and I didn't want to hurt him, and then I kind of turned it into a kiss."

_Skye T, calm down. Everything's fine._

"Just on the cheek, not what you think. But then I just left, and now he must think I'm completely... I don't even know. First I don't talk to him, then I shout at him, then I spill my life story, and then I just leave after that."

_You could just go talk to him._

"And now I haven't seen him in two weeks because I'm a coward. Because I don't know how I feel about him."

_I think you might like him._

"I think I might like him... He doesn't even know that I'm in D.C. right now." Skye crumpled her tissue into a ball. Then she whispered, "I miss you."

_Right back at you..._

"I don't know what to do, Connor. I need you here."

_I'm sorry._

Another tissue. "Also, why does everyone always say you feel better after crying, I always feel fucking worse."

_I don't know. Do you wanna watch Alien?_

"And I can't describe how stupid I feel, sitting in a car talking to myself."

_You're not alone, though._

The car door slammed shut, and seconds later the lights in the garage went out. The door was locked from the outside, and then there was silence again.

_See you._


	11. Bed and Breakfast

_Since this is one of the last oneshots I have in store, I thought I'd leave you with something extra fluffy. Everything else I got is kinda messy, and I don't particularly feel like that at the moment - who does, really. I hope you enjoy. Cheers x._

_This one is set after Ellster's story _Old Friends. _Very mild spoilers. More of a teaser, if you ask me._

* * *

**Bed and Breakfast**

It really is amazing.

In the beginning, Skye woke up the moment a key turned in the lock, then she would lie in bed, every muscle tensed, until Benji called out or came into the room. By now she is so accustomed to him that she keeps sleeping if he comes home late from a mission. It's a little scary, the knowledge that he's learned how to move in order not to disturb her, that he can slip past her if he's careful.

But mornings like this are worth it ten times over. Skye went to bed alone and wakes up with her face pressed against Benji's neck, feeling the heat radiating off him through two layers of blankets.

She doesn't move for a long while, listens to his relaxed regular breathing, just cuddles up to him to watch him sleep. After about an hour she gets up. In the kitchen she turns on BBC Radio on low volume and starts making breakfast. She leaves the bedroom door open. Sometimes the smell of _vafler _alone is enough to gently rouse him from his sleep. But when she goes back into the bedroom, balancing a tray stacked with glasses of orange juice, Benji is still asleep. She puts it down on his night stand and slips in next to him.

"Mmh..." Benji murmurs at the movement. Skye kisses his cheek. He sighs and turns his head towards her, eyes still closed. She puts an arm around him and starts ruffling his hair. He edges closer.

"Good morning, Agent Dunn," she whispers.

Benji has to smile. Waking up in his own bed, to the smell of Danish waffles and fresh linen and Skye's shampoo is heaven. And is that...?

He feels something touch his lips, tentatively opens them and bites down: the fruity taste of summer in one perfect strawberry.

He opens his eyes. Skye is smiling at him, one hand still in his hair, the other one holding the strawberry. She eats the rest of it herself with another bite, and licks the red off her lips. She's lying on top of the blanket, wearing black panties and a short white shirt that exposes her left shoulder.

Benji feels like this should be a dream. But it's real.

Skye reaches over him to put the strawberry trunk on the tray. Benji catches her in his arms. "I missed you."

She looks into his eyes, still smiling, and strokes his stubbly cheek. "I missed you, too."

Benji tries to get the blanket out of the way, but is distracted when she kisses him. She escapes his hug, pushes the blanket off, holds him in place by gently pressing one shoulder down. Skye pushes up his shirt, kisses his stomach. It comes as a shock, the best kind. Benji's head tilts back onto the pillow as she nips his skin.

"Skye..."

His hand curls into a fist around a handful of blanket. He wants her to continue, to move lower, very aware of the bulge growing in his briefs, but instead she straddles him, holds his shoulders, kisses his neck in small quick touches.

"Mmmmh?" she asks playfully.

"Don't stop..."

"Any bruises I should know about?" she whispers, so close to his ear that he feels her lips. She bites his earlobe.

Benji can't care less about injuries now. He tugs at her shirt, finds the rubber band holding her hair together and tugs that out as well. "Right thigh," he mumbles between kisses. "But it's all right."

Skye shifts her weight accordingly, and pulls her shirt over her head. It is joined by Benji's on the floor moments later.

It's when he manages to elicit noises from her that he gets aroused the most, because it's not easy. It takes skill and knowledge of secret spots to coax out her soft moans. This morning there are a lot of them.

The _vafler _havecooled down on the tray by the time they finally take a break. Skye has put her head on his chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat, when he reaches for another strawberry. She looks up and he holds it so that she can take a bite. The movement of her jaw against his chest as she chews is even more delicious than the strawberry itself. Benji traces her shoulder blade with one finger and watches the fine hairs on her arm stand up in response. He reaches for a waffle.

"That's not just a bruise," Skye suddenly remarks. Her hand moves over his hipbone down to his thigh. "Did you get shot?"

"Yes, but it's fine," he says quickly and grins. "I have so much to tell you."

Skye smiles at him. Benji can't resist kissing her again. He tastes _vafler _and strawberries, holds her closer, clutches her white-blond hair.

"You know I'll never wake up to anything less now?"

Skye laughs. "I could get used to that. But next time it's your turn to make breakfast."


End file.
